With 2 races left, IndyCar season excitement ready to hit overdrive

It's been a great season, but the best is potentially yet to come in the final two races of 2022

The prelims were loads of fun this IndyCar season.

Scott McLaughlin showed what a talent he is by winning the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, then had a where-did-he-come-from moment when Josef Newgarden sped past just yards from the finish to swipe the victory at Texas.

Graham Rahal got royally miffed with Romain Grosjean after getting French kissed out of the groove at Barber and, as the season continued, so did others who didn’t appreciate how Grosjean redecorated their sidepods.

Will Power unveiled a laid-back demeanor that made him “Chill Will,” brushing aside occasional misfortune that would have left him seething in the past, and posting a record of consistency – along with a victory at Detroit – that has him leading the standings into this season's penultimate race this Sunday at Portland.

Newgarden, meanwhile, is showing his inner fire on the outside, and it’s intense. He has reveled in his series-leading five victories and agonized over the ones he didn’t win, and that, along with his immense talent and Team Penske’s strong effort, put him only three points behind Power with two races remaining.

Scott Dixon has done the stuff of the six-time series champion that he is, winning twice and making the most of what could have been rough days at the track. He’s finished in the top five eight times and top 10 an impressive 14 times in 15 races.

The outlier was a 21^st-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 when he appeared headed to victory before a late-race penalty for speeding as he entered the pits – one mph over the limit – ruined his race. But it opened the door for Marcus Ericsson, who showed his strength in the final 10 laps, including a brilliant drive following a red flag with three laps remaining to win the 500.

Marcus Ericsson literally came out of nowhere to win last year's Indianapolis 500. Will we see another surprise winner on Sunday? Photo: USA Today Sports / Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar

And that’s not to mention the soap opera involving Alex Palou, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver who’s still in the seat despite being sued by the team amid a contract squabble that makes it uncertain whether he will race in 2023 with Ganassi, Arrow McLaren SP or (gasp!) maybe nowhere.

Yeah, it’s been a season of brilliance, intrigue, angst and anger on and off the track.

But those are all sideshows to what’s next, because the final two races will determine the 2022 champion from an ultra-tight points race.

Seven drivers remain mathematically alive going into the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, and then the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sept. 11 at Laguna Seca.

But for all intents and purposes, it’s basically down to just four drivers – Power, Newgarden, Dixon and Ericsson, with a mere 17 points separating Power at the top from Ericsson in fourth.

It's a fitting battle of heavyweights, with all but Ericsson having won the IndyCar title in their careers, and the series’ two power teams – Penske vs. Ganassi – adding a huge level of intrigue.

We’re already seeing alternate strategies.

Team Penske has chosen to conduct its final test of the season this week at Portland, where Newgarden finished fifth, McLaughlin ninth and Power 13^th in 2021, all looking up at their Chip Ganassi Racing rivals (Palou won, on his way to the season title, Dixon finished third and Ericsson seventh).

The Ganassi team will conduct its final test at WeatherTech Raceway at  Laguna Seca, figuring there’s more to learn on the low-grip surface there than at Portland.

If you watch one corner of racing the rest of this season, make sure it’s the first turn at Portland. The tight Festival Chicane is the unforgiving right-left-right funnel that follows a main straight so long and wide that drivers think they can charge into it five-wide.

Until they can’t, that is.

Dreams are smashed like front wings and toe links, and the look of the championship can change in the time it takes to say, “Cleanup in Turn 1!”

If the Festival Chicane doesn’t do it, then the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca just might. The left-right combination is a 60-foot elevation drop that will leave a driver’s stomach in Turn 8 while he’s trying to finish the Corkscrew in 8A.

Alex Zanardi pulled off one of IndyCar racing’s most dramatic moments there in 1996 with “The Pass” – boldly braking late entering Turn 8 while trailing Bryan Herta on the final lap. He sailed past Herta on the left, then careened across the right-hander, missing the rumble strips entirely with his right-side tires in the dirt, before exiting with the lead.

Remember how Alex Zanardi stalked Bryan Herta and then made one of the most memorable passes in IndyCar history in 1996? Photo: USA Today Sports / Matthew Emmons

Is it too much to ask for a late-race restart with Power, Newgarden, Dixon and Ericsson racing nose-to-tail, sidepod-to-sidepod with no regard for anything but the championship?

Whoever wins it will have conquered the diversity of a road/street/oval schedule against teams and drivers that are as strong as the series has seen.

Yep, this is going to be fun.